Nikon's D3000 is the latest shot in the campaign to make DSLRs so user-friendly that compact shooters will flock to buy them. In that effort, it scores a qualified hit.

Nikon's D3000 is the latest shot in the campaign to make DSLRs so user-friendly that compact shooters will flock to buy them. In that effort, it scores a qualified hit.

The name might indicate that this is a stripped-down version of this spring's D5000. But the D3000 is more akin to Nikon's earlier D40 and D40X models – smaller, lighter and with fewer features. You get a 10.2-megapixel CCD sensor rather than the D5000's 12.3-megapixel CMOS unit, and there's no Live View or movie mode.

What you do get for the modest price is a novel system that helps new DSLR users get the right settings without the tech talk. The camera's "Guide" mode menus offer simple interfaces for shooting, viewing and setting up the camera.

Choose "Shooting" and an "easy operation" path lets you pick categories like "distant subjects" or "portraits" to find the right scene mode. Take "advanced operation" and the camera explains how to soften backgrounds or freeze motion, and presents a simple graphic to help you adjust settings.

In use, the D3000 performed much like the other Nikons, focusing quickly and firing smoothly. The three-inch monitor was brilliant and the auto modes handled most shooting situations well. However, a delay of several seconds sometimes occurred after shooting, and the burst mode tended to choke out after four or five shots at top resolution.

But there was no arguing with the pictures. They were vivid and sharp, with saturated colours, and low light was no problem.

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